US: 26 Republican Governors demand meeting with President Joe Biden over border crisis

More than two dozen Republican governors have requested a meeting with US President Joe Biden over the border crisis. The Republican governors, including Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, want to discuss the crisis at the Southern border. The 26 Republican governors in a letter have demanded a meeting with Biden to bring an "end to the national security crisis created by eight months of unenforced borders".

Taking to Twitter, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said that he and 25 governors have requested a meeting with President Joe Biden within 15 days. He further stated that they want to discuss finding "meaningful solutions to the worst border crisis in more than two decades". In the press release, the governors mentioned that they are "seeking an open and constructive dialogue regarding border enforcement on behalf of US citizens in our states and all those hoping to become US citizens".

The governors in the press release stated that they must end the crisis at the border, and they should return to border operations that respect the laws of the land and the lives of all the people. In the letter, the governors have written to the Biden that they want to bring an "end to the national security crisis created by eight months of unenforced borders". They have stated that there is an increase in international criminal activity and it has "opened the floodgates to human traffickers and drug smugglers endangering public health and safety in our states". In the letter, the Republican governors claimed that the crisis at the southern border "now extends beyond to every state and requires immediate action before the situation worsens".

The governors said that border apprehensions are up almost 500 per cent compared to last year and that approximately 9,700 illegal apprehensions have prior criminal convictions. In the letter, they said that more fentanyl has been seized this fiscal year than the last three years combined and that cartels and human traffickers are making millions by moving people and drugs across the border. The governors have claimed that they have stepped up their efforts to address the border crisis at the state level, but "their abilities are constitutionally limited" as the implementation of immigration laws lied in the hands of the US President.

Image: AP